HOTEL REVIEW: Hótel Egilsen, Stykkishólmur, Iceland

I'm just going to get straight to the point, Hótel Egilsen is the best hotel in Iceland. OK, so I've only stayed in 9 different hotels throughout the country but this one is the best, by miles. Situated in a beautifully renovated timber house, Hótel Egilsen is cosy, chic and absolutely lovely. It is a boutique hotel in every sense of the word with beautiful hand crafted furniture throughout the bedrooms and communal areas, rooms with iPads to provide entertainment and refreshments throughout your stay from the bar are included in the room rate.

The hotel is situated right next to the harbour in the tiny, idyllic village of Stykkishólmur in west Iceland. It's only a few hours drive from Reykjavik but it's location on the snaefellsnes peninsula means you are surrounded by snow topped mountains and hidden glaciers, as you can imagine the views are stunning. Stykkishólmur was the first stop on our road trip and as soon as I'd read about Hótel Egilsen I knew I wanted to stay. Once we checked in we spent an hour or two in town checking out some local attractions before heading out in the car again to drive around the  peninsula, heading back into town for dinner at the local restaurant next door, Narfeyrarstofa.

So rooms aren't cheap and they're not that big either in all honesty. We stayed in a superior double because all the standard rooms were booked but because we were only staying for one night we used that as a justification to splash out.  The room cost us 36,200 ISK which is about £180 and more than I would ever pay for 1 night in a hotel normally, however this was by far the most luxurious hotel we stayed in throughout our time in Iceland. When I look back on our trip I don't have any qualms about paying that much because staying at Hótel Egilsen was truly a beautiful experience. The staff we so attentive and everything in our room, from the furnishings to the shower and bed was of such excellent quality. I actually wish we could have stayed here for longer, but alas a road trip means a new destination every night.

The view from our room


The communal area where you can get refreshments from the bar throughout your stay

The dining room

We opted in for breakfast during our stay which is a healthy, home made selection of delicious treats including cereal, fruit, locally baked bread, jam, cheese, smoked salmon, herring, eggs, hot drinks, smoothies, and yoghurt. The huge spread really set us up for the day which we were very thankful for as there was an awful lot of driving to be done.

It may be a little on the expensive side but Hótel Egilsen is a wonderful place and looking at these photos I am so sad that I am not there right this moment. The hotel is small, with only a handful of rooms so if you want to stay here you need to book pretty far in advance. We stayed in July and when I booked in March there was only one room left so make sure you plan ahead, however you don't actaully pay until you check out which makes book stuff far in advance a less daunting process.

Follow me on: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bloglovin'